Babies Born August 2007

HI all

allisando, congrats on the weight gain. :lol: my little pudding thought he'd get back over birth weight at about day 7 or 10 i think. he really is a gutsa though.

Fig, you really wouldn't think that something so little would take up so much time. but it's like you just finish one thing and then you have to start on another, and then when you do get 5 mins it goes so fast. today Xav slept long enough for me to vacume the house and then woke up. Very generous of him, and our house is not very big.

MCH appts, did you all get a little book to take to your appts. This shold say in it exactly what you should have. diff states and territories could be different though. Vic has 2 and 4 weeks, 6 weeks should be your own gp and then 2 months etc etc. You can usually make an appt earlier and most places have an open time like fig said. This is of course if they are adequately staffed. But the chemists sound like a good idea if all your after is re-assurance that bubs is growing ok. with Xav every time I look down at him he looks bigger lately. last appt i didn't feel like he had grown in length, and he hadn't.

Just wanted to post quickly as Willa is FINALLY asleep and who knows how long that will last for...

Kirst - I didn't know some chemists lease out breast pumps. Def. have to look into that as I don't fancy traveling to Castle Hill to pick one up from the ABA.

And I just wanted to say that without nurses, my experience with the healthcare system would be nightmarish. My DH's aunt is a midwife and she likes to joke that for uncomplicated births, Obgyn's don't so much deliver babies as merely 'catch' them. It's the nurses and the mums that do all the hard work!

Re. baby health checks, we had the MCHN visit in Week 2 to check Willa's weights, etc. But prior to that we had already been to the GP for a similar check due to worrying about that crusty stuff on her eye and some blood in her diaper. Was very glad to know she had exceeded her birth weight at Day 10. I feel like she's getting so long now that her diapers are becoming hipsters lol.

Speaking of my dear Willa, God, its been a hellova week.

Does something change when babies hit Week 3 of life? She's gone from being a relatively cheerful baby in the daytime to not settling whatsoever in the day. Either she's asleep, being fed or screaming with maybe about 5 mins here and there of play and happy-time. Before this I could at least put on a load of laundry, eat a proper meal or have a shower lasting longer than 2 minutes. Now all I do is sit on the couch in my increasingly stale PJs, nursing her. She's abandoned her 3 to 4 hour intervals feeds in favour of cluster feeding.

This morning at 7am, I took her to bed with me and nursed her there to get some sleep. Did the trick. She's in my bed right now from where I nursed her this arvo. Well meaning people keep nagging at me about 'bad habits' and such, but I figure, whatever works, right??

I rang an ABA counselor last night to ask if this constant crying was really due to hunger and was basically told to feed on demand as that was what the baby was probably needing as this stage. But its hard to live in a messy house with a screaming baby and no sleep. I'd really like to go outside at some point!

How do you guys cope?

Neuri

Yeah Neuri, they change. They start to learn that their cries can affect you. Then around 6 weeks they settle again. Just hold one, you'll get there. Try putting her in a sling or carrier when she's grizzly. I find that to keep Bailey close to my body during those times really settles her. I used to do it with Ardyn too. In fact I used to vacuum the house with her on my chest.

As far as the co-sleeping, my opinion is "whatever works". You need to sleep babe, and if that's what it takes, that's what it takes. I took Ardyn to bed with me at times to get her to settle, and she is just fine. I read somewhere recently that you can't 'spoil' a baby under 3 months, as their memory isn't mature enough to remember these things. I live by that rule.

This is also a reason that I like bottle-feeding Bailey. I know exactly how much she's getting, and know if her crying is hunger-related or just grizzling. It's definitely one HUGE avantage. That, and when I'm simply exhausted, DH can do it......*snicker*. I also like the fact that DH gets to bond with his daughter, as did my MIL when she came to visit on the weekend.

Are you looking for Willa's tired signs? Could she be over tired?

Hey Neuri, I just tried to PM you, but it's saying that you're not allwed/don't want to receive PMs. What's the story??

Hi all.

Nueri, babies have a growth spurt around 3 wks n around 6 weeks. this nis usually the cause 4 a hell week.

My older daughter gained her birth weight back in no time but Emma didn't really feed 4 the 1st 10 days.

Don't u just luv bed times! wen the girls have gone 2 bed i have time 2 do stuff 4 myself! cant even scratch myself during the day!

I figure th@ breast pump hire is almost as expensive as buying 1 th@ has battery as well as mains power coz if u hire u have 2 buy all ur own accessories anyway. chemist quoted $60 4 6 month hire plus breast shield etc, which 4 th@ brand was $40! my nuk pump was $105 n i dont have 2 give it bak!

HI all,

Neuri, the cluster feeding at around 3 weeks is perfectly normal, and it will probably happen again before the 6 weeks is up. if you do need a 5 min brake try what krist mentioned and try wearing your bubs. Xavier decided at the start of this week sleeping in your cot was for suckers and so while awake, why not have a boobie in your mouth. that got a little tiresom, so I ended up wearing him in his Hug a bub for a little each day, and he got some good long sleeps. he's a new little man now.

re the breast pump I just got the manual avent isis, it works fine for me. there is another isis that has an electronic memory and learns what motion you like then you hit cruise control and it goes for you. also around the $100 mark. What I found was great though we have a ufs pharmacy here and they give a membership discount. I saved 10-20% off all my avent stuff I have bought so far, cheaper than big w sells it for.

and I agree with krist, nothing wrong with spoiling in the first 3 months. there is a july mummy that just had her 5th child and she has co0slept with all of them until 12 weeks, and they don't have any bad sleeping habits

Ah, thanks for the advice ladies.I had heard about growth spurts but wasn't sure when they started or how they affected baby behaviour.

Becca, I think my DD was doing a Xavier all this week, what with wanting constant boob. I feel like I should know what my baby is trying to tell me when she cries, but I suppose 21 days isn't all that long to get to know all a baby's cues and so many changes take place in that time too.

Today was actually a really good day! Willa ate well at regular intervals and didn't fuss much in between. She napped in the arvo too and as of tonight, I've started a new bath then boob routine which I hope will settle her for her 8 pm put down. So far so quiet! I was going to clean the bathroom now but urgh can't be stuffed :)

And yes, hurrah for slings! I had my eye on the hug a bub from early on after hearing such good things about it but kept putting off buying one. After reading your replies today i went and dug out an old 'snuggli' that DH's cousin had given us and boy did DD love it. I was 10 mins into wiping down the kitchen benches before I realised she had fallen asleep in it.

Kirst- I have no idea about the PM thing. Is there some setting I can play with in the user options? I didn't see it when I had a look. My email is neuswan79@hotmail.com in any case if u need to reach me for any reason.

Hope you guys have a lovely weekend.

Neuri

Hi all,

Neuri they sure do change lots at the moment so you do find you think you are getting used to something and then it all changes again. Glad the snuggli worked well for you.

Well I think this little man has started to put himself into a routine. I've noticed him favoring certain times of the day for feeding, and last night he slept for 7 hours, that's a first, and we are getting more smiles now too.

Well I hope you all have a good weekend, it's lovley and sunny here.

Is everyone too sleep-deprived to post anything??? haha!

Well we're all settling in quite well. Bailey has decided that during the day she won't sleep as well now, but I really do't give a hoot, as she is settling like a dream at night. She even does a 5 hour sleep stint - at 3 weeks!!!!! Yay! Pity it's the 7pm - midnight stint....why can't it be 11pm - 4am (ha!). Time and patience Kirst, time and patience.

So things are generally good after 3 weeks.
How's everyone else going?

Fantastic here Krist :D
No complaints... Somtimes Bonnie will sleep for over 7 hours at night... but it's usually 4-5 hours. She will sometimes have a cluster feed of an evening, which is fine with me, I don't mind giving her extra feeds if that's what she thinks she wants. She is such a good bub, I am sooo lucky (bout time too after a couple of sooky ones). But I really am sure that I am finally getting the hang of this mothering a newborn thing... it really does get easier when you get to your fourth... LOL!! But I am sooo busy!! I'm not really complaining tho, loving it :D

I hope you are all doing well, I am sure things will settle down here soon and I will get more time online...

Tanya

Sleep. what's that? I'm only getting half of what I used to get. Although I was sleeping in till midday previously :lol:

Tanya good to hear your doing so well and with 4. Well done.

Hi girls!

Been MIA in here a bit lately. Being a mum of 2 under 2 is hard work!!! I must admit i am quite enjoying it though. Definetely makes the days go quicker!

Well things are going pretty well here. Colby is doing really well. We kinda have a night routine now. She feeds on and off up until around 8.30-9pm and then sleep through till 4.00am. We then have a feed and back off to sleep till around 8.30am. We do have the occasional night where Colby wont settle till around 11.00pm though! Those nights are killers! We had one of them lastnight!!

Colby is starting to smile heaps now too. It takes her a while to work it out but if you just sit there and talk to her she will give you one. She looks really different when she does smile. She is really starting to get a lot of control over her neck now. She can hold her head up on her own when you put her over your shoulder. Last night my mum had her laying on a pillow on her tummy and she was lifting her head and chest up looking around. Colby was "cooing" to mum aswell! I can never get her to do it but my mum can. She could do it with Briley too!

Feeding is going not too bad. She is still feeding really well but vomits a lot of it back up. We went to the footy the other night and i had expressed a heap for the night but brought a tin of formula for back up just incase. Mum gave her some BM but she vomited that up so mum tried her on the formula and she drank the lot without spewing and went to sleep straight away. Ofcourse this gave me a bit of a complex and i thought that maybe she could'nt tolerate my milk. I am going to speak to the Dr about it at our 6 week check-up. I thought maybe it was reflux but i thought reflux was like power chucking though. Maybe not???

If need be i will put her on formula. I don't have a problem with it at all. Briley had to be switched to formula at 4 weeks cause she would'nt latch properly and therefore not getting what she needed. She is perfectly healthy. BUT....i really wanted to BF for as long as i could this time. I can tell that she is growing fine as i notice she feels little bit heavier everyday!

Well i don't think there is much else to report. I am doing well. Starting to get a few pains back though. I was having some issues before i fell pregnant with Briley. Dr's thought maybe PCOS. Was booked in for laparoscopy and hystercoscopy but fell pregnant both times!! Must mention that to the Dr at the 6 weeks check-up too!

Sorry for the lack of personals! I am so far behind on them i can't catch up!! I will just have to pop in everyday to keep up with you guys!

Hope you are all well....

hi all,

SARA - There is nothing wrong with ur milk. formula is thicker n there4 less likely 2 come back up. as long as she is gaining weight it doesn't matter how much she chucks.

Every1 else seem 2 b doing xactly wot they should b, following bub's lead. the earliest i will start a strict routine is 6 weeks or even later. we have a very loosely followed routine now but coz of all the issues we had with Emma's weight i really dont care i she wants shorter gaps btw feeds.

Emma has reached birthweight n is bak on the boob, with the aid of nipple shields! she gets weighed again 2morrow.

Hi all,

I second that Sara there is nothing wrong with your milk. It sounds like Xavier and colby are doing some very similar things (well they do share a birthday) He too does little chucks, sometimes just after he has fed, he doesn't care so I don't care, he certainly isn't going without. Little bit of smiling for us, and he chats a little, but only sometimes. I've noticed he's started smiling in his sleep, it's so cute.

We are slowly looking at a routine, but I think it will be for me more so than xav, he seems to be taking care of his own routine, it's only when mummy buggers it up 'cause she wants to do something that Xav gets all grumpy and crazy like.

The little chuckies are normal girls. Bailey does it too, and I'm not at all fussed. Ardyn had full-on reflux (projectiles all the time), but as it didn't fuss her, we didn't let it fuss us. So the little possits (sp?) that Bailey does are EASY! Ardyn had to wear a bib 24/7, went through about 6 a day, and at least 2 changes of clothes.

As long as they put on weight, don't let it bother you. Your milk is fine Sara. Don't stress hun.

I'm with you Ali. Happy letting Bailey take the lead. I feed her when she wants to be fed, and she sleeps when she's tired. The only time that we have a definite routine right now is at bedtime. I have to otherwise I wouldn't be able to keep Ardyn to hers. And I think that routine at bedtime is ULTRA important anyway. It sets them up for a good night's sleep.

At the moment, Bailey gets up from her afternoon sleep anywhere from 3:30-5:00 depending on what she's done throughout the day. Ardyn feeds at about 5:15. Bailey has a bath at about 6:15. If Ardyn decides not to bath with Bailey, she has a bath at about 6:45 when her dad gets home. Bailey is being fed at 6:30/6:40 to be in bed at 7:00 and Ardyn is in bed at 7:30.

We don't hear from Ardyn until at least 7am, and we hear from Bailey at about 11:30-12:00, 3:00 - 4:00 and 6:30-7:30.

I am pretty happy with the way things are going, and won't try to dictate a strict routine for at least a couple of months. We never really did with Ardyn, she just put herself into one around 12 weeks. As Bailey is #2, we will need her in a bit more of a routine a bit quicker though. But from what I understand, subsequent children tend to get into a routine quicker anyway, because they have to. Would that be right Tanya??

I think It's right as we have tried 2 keep sarah's routine the same n emma seems 2 b happy 2 fit round that but will b properly getting her on routine around 6 weeks coz thats wen sleep cycles start.

Morning girls

Thanks for all the encouragement with the BF. I am VERY determined to keep it going as long as we both can.

Well i might have worked out the problem with Colby's wind and posseting. I think it might be potato of all things. A few weeks ago, the day after a roast meal, i noticed that Colby was always windy the day after a roast. I wondered wether it was from the oils and fats from the roast or something else. I have'nt been eating much potato lately other than at roasts. Then on sunday night i mate idaho potato to have with dinner and lo and behold, we had a really bad windy day and night lastnight. Does this sound silly or what??? Potato giving a baby wind???

We have our 6 week check-up on the 21'st of September and i am going to ask the Dr about it then. If the posseting continues i think i might go and see a CHN sooner. We had a terrible night lastnight. Colby just would'nt settle till after 11pm. I know it was the wind but.

Ali - Great to hear that Emma's weight is back up! I must go and get Colby weighed this week. Have'nt had her weighed since she was 3 weeks. I'm sure she had put on some more though. She def feels heavier!

Kirst - Briley was the same RE: routine at 12 weeks. She was 12 weeks to the day when she first started her routine. Bath, feed and bed an she would sleep through all night. Colby is chopping and changing at the moment that is too hard to try and put her in one. MIL just tried to tell me i need to stop demand feeding her! :angry: Reckons it will take up all my time if i continue this way! I know my baby and what she needs! Glad to hear your adjusting well to it all. I am quite proud of myself too!

Bec - I still can't believe there were so many babies born on the same day. Must have been something in the air!!! Glad to hear that things are going the same at your end. Esp since they are the same age. It will be good to compare notes won't it! Although every baby is different.

Well better get going. Colby is starting to stir and needs a bath and feed before Briley wakes up for her sleep.

Hope you are all well...

Starch is very bloating. does she do it with pasta as well? chips etc fill me n sarah up more than a non starchy meal. could b getting it thru ur milk...:dunno:
U can weigh her @ the chemist urself 4 free if u just want to check. re the wind, have u tried winding her mid bb? she will cry but there's less milk on top of the gas bubbles if she stops regularly to burp, n there4 fill up properly.

Emma just got weighed again (mw don't want her going backwards again) n she is 80g over bw. going 2 start cutting nipple shields b4 nxt feed so she stops relying on them.

Hi all,

Sara, wow potato, I love potato it's one of my faves. One possible reason could be that potato turns to sugar very easy in the system, so maybe she's getting too many sugars?? I don't hold back with the foods I eat, 'cause i'm boring enough already, so I can't see any correlation between the bad times and what I eat.

Xavier will be 6 weeks this Friday, and he has already started putting himself in a routine. in the evenings between 7.30-8.30 he decides it's deep sleep time. then he will sleep for 5 hours min and then wake up. Problem then is he will only do 3 hour stints after that, so I'm trying to make him feed again late in the evening.

Ali - I have eaten pasta since i've had her so i can't relate the 2 yet. Yeah i will weigh her this week when i go into town. Oh and yep i do stop half way through a feed and burp her. Then i put her on the other boob for a feed. Always done that.

Bec - Yeh i love potato too! Its usually a veg that we have with every meal. I sure am going to miss it! I wondered if it is only baked potato though. We are having mash tonight so i will def tell tomorrow if it is just potato itself or if it is baked only that is giving her the wind.

Ok i have a question for you all girls,

Has anyone's AF come back???

Well, i bled after Colby's birth up until about a week ago. Then this afternoon i went to the loo and wiped and i have bright red bleeding. I think that i might have my period already. Is this normal???

I have been getting some period like pains which i thought were associated to my other problems. But now i think it might have been period pain. Since i noticed the bleeding that pains have gotten a bit more frequent.

Surely i should'nt be getting a period back already! Colby is only 5 weeks old and exclusively breastfeeding!!

I bled for 6 weeks after Briley's birth then at about 8 weeks my period came back.

Sara, I haven't got af back yet, and hope I get a few more weeks before I do. My after birt loss has only just finished as well, but I'm sure I have either just ovulated or am about to ovulate, so I am expecting it soon.

I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones that takes a while longer for it to come back.

Yeah i was hoping the same thing!! But obviously its not meant to be!!

Whoah, so many new posts to catch up on!

I find it amazing that it seems like our bubs are doing about the same sorta thing, in terms of feeding and sleeping. I guess I shouldn't be surprised seeing as they're all about the same age. Willa does the cluster feeding thing in the evenings too followed by a night feed at around 4 am, then probably again 7am or a little later. She also just started having long sleeps at night - 5 hrs last night which was amazing, but DH and I went to bed at 3am because we were so stoked to have some downtime to ourselves :) It feels like years since we were able to watch a movie or TV show freely.

Sara - interesting about the potato! I'm curious if there are any other trigger foods for wind? So far I've heard cabbage, nuts, spicy food, caffeine and choc. To think that something as simple as what u have for dinner can end up giving a baby an upset tummy.

And also, how can you tell if its wind that had the baby crying and not something else? Every now and then I notice Willa arching her back and appearing to strain as if she's constipated, but I know she's not cos her poops are nice and soft. She usually ends up passing wind at the end of these 'bouts' and is fine later, but is this what you would call wind?

What do you ladies do when your bubs suffer from wind?

Neuri

Morning girls,

Neuri - I know that Colby has wind when she has a high pitched scream in her cry. She also wants to be constantly held and if you put her down she screams big time and gets hysterical. I know straight away thats its wind when i hear her cry like this. I tend to just keep feeding her to try and bring up the wind or just constantly pat her back to try and bring it up. These are the only 2 ways i can stop her from crying.

I found that it took a while to understand babies cries. But after having Briley i kinda picked up on it straight away. You will get the hang of it soon. And then you will be able to tell if Willa has wind, a dirty nappy, is hungry or just wants some attention. Its an amazing skill to have i think!

Colby went to bed at around 9.30pm lastnight in our bed. Brent and her were laying there face to face and she just crashed! She woke up for 2 feeds though. One at 2.30am and then again at 4.00am. She slept pretty much the whole day yesterday so i was suprised she went down so early. Maybe a growth spurt???

Well today will be the tell all if it is the potato that is giving Colby wind. We had mash potato with our dinner last night. I am still a little unsure as to wether its just potoato or baked potato's. We'll find out today i guess. I hate having to take the risk of giving her wind but i really need to know as potato is a LARGE part of our diet.

We are going to head into my mums for the day i think. I did'nt want to go into town until either tomorrow or friday but if i go in today i don't have to! I live 40k's out of town so i try to make the town visits once a weeks only. Plus its really hard with 2 littlies.

Hope you are all well....

Hi all,

Neuri, it still amazes me that all the bubs do similar things, but as you said they are all similar ages, we should expect it. I too am struggling with the cry's All I know is if I've done everything he must be tired!! Although if I then try to put him down and he screams bloody murder, then he has wind still.

Sara, let us know how you go with the potato. So far I think I've eaten most of the list of windy things that neuri listed except cabbage, yuck! And I certainly go to town on the potato. Although I have decided to limit my dairy, and have supplemented a little soy milk into my diet.

Yay for us we had a nice 7 hour stint again last night, a few more and I might start believing it's a keeper. then we just have to start working on the 8 hours. Although I know I will just be getting my sleep back and feeling good and the teeth will start coming in, what's a mummy to do?

Well our routines are getting pretty good over here.
The same thing seems to be happening most days, so it's getting quite easy to organise myself. I just wish that she'd sleep longer at night (don't worry, I know it will come). But at least when she wakes to feed she goes straight back to sleep without a hitch. So feeding only tsakes about half an hour.

Our night time routine has changed for the better though. Ardyn has decided that she wants to bathe with Bailey, so I have them both bathed and in the PJs by the time DH gets home. That means that he can feed Bailey while I start our dinner or play with Ardyn, and then he still gets half an hour with Ardyn after Bailey goes to bed.

As for wind, we found that Bailey seemed to be suffering a bit.....not sure whether it was wind/colic or reflux...........but she had the same screaming, inconsolable cry that Sara mentioned, along with a red face and blue lips, and bringing her knees up around her chest. That's definitely a 'pain' cry.
We add "Infant's Friend" to her bottle, and it seems to have done the job. We haven't had any problems since.

Hi girls,

Well i think we might be hitting our 6 week growth spurt here. For the past 2 days Colby has pretty much slept and ate the days away. Lastnight we had a GREAT night. I put her down at 9.00pm and she slept through till 4.15am. It was lovely. Would've been even better had Briley not decided to wake up at 2.15am!!! You can't have everything though i suppose.

Well i think i might have sorted the potato issue. I definetely think its baked potatos that give her wind. We have had mash and boiled potato lastnight and the night before she has'nt budged the next day. No wind problems at all. I did buy some gripe water just incase we have another bout though. I'm not really game enough to try and find out if it really is the baked potato though. I don't want to go through a day and night like that again if i can help it!

Not sure if any of you know but i was at uni at the beginning of the year doing my Bachelor of Nursing. I am planning on becoming a midwife. I had to defer this year because of complications with the pregnancy. So as it is close time for QTAC applications shortly, i am expecting a letter from the Uni asking if i want to continue or not. I'm still undecided but i think that i am just going to do it part-time external. I don't want to be taken away from the girls at all. But i still want to do something for myself.

So....i have decided to do a Doula course and do that as much as i want to. Once i have comleted the course and will be a qualified doula, i will be able to charge for the births. So that is a way for me to still be able to do what i love (midwifery) and bring in a little income for myself.

I am also going to speak to an acedemic advisor about what i should do re: going back to uni part-time external or part-time on campus. I really don't want to flood myself with uni but i still want to work my way towards my dream.

I have some tough decisions ahead!

Well better go...Colby is hungry!

Hope you are all well.

Hi girls! It's been ages since I've been able to get in here, but Jensen seems to be awake more during the day and demanding my attention. I do manage to read my emails, which has any new posts from this thread. So, Ive been reading up !

Jensen has put himself into a routine... He'll feed at 6ish (conveniently - dinner time and the time his daddy gets home from work), then again between 7:30 and 8:30 and he'll sleep thru til round 11:30-12. If I'm lucky he'll go back to sleep til 2 and be up 2hourly for a feed. But either at the 12 or 2 o'clock feed, he can wake up and just decide he's not going back to sleep for an hour or so (funnily enough - always longer, never less than an hour). That gets hard. I just want to sleep and he wants to be wide awake. (I'm so lucky that right now, he's asleep behind me in his swingamajig. Fingers crossed it'll stay that way til I'm finished in here)

We have been having a few problems tho. Jensen, for the past few nights, has been screaming uncontrollably for hours. It seems to start about 5-5:30. It can start out that he's hungry, but when i put him to the breast, he takes a few sucks and starts screaming into it. At first, I thought it could be that he wasn't hungry like I thought he was, or that that breast just wasn't good enough and he wanted the other. Nope, not there either. God forbid - breast refusal. Quick nappy change - coz he hates nappy change time, or any time his body is exposed to the air - and that doesn't help. He's not too hot or cold. He wants cuddles. But still, thats not enough. It's exhausting for all of us. It gets to me that I can't comfort him, I just dont' know what it is. Eventually he settles down.:dunno:
Sometimes, he's just over-tired/over-stimulated or over-hungry.
He hates the bath with a passion - even more so than being undressed or nappy-changed.:cry:
Another thing is, he's taken to favouring the right breast. I have to feed out of that one til the left one is massive and then, maybe, he'll take it. I'm going to have to start expressing that one - I don't want any problems.
He also doesn't like being on his back. Sometimes all he wants is to be sitting or standing up looking about at the world. He'll cry incessantly til you change him to that position. Doesn't help if your out and about.
He sometimes fights sleep. You can see the lil eyes blink really slowly. We have a snuggli (a baby pouch)and the other day he wouldn't settle either by walking round with him or cuddling which normally send him to the land of nod, I stuck him in that and *snap!* he was out. Go figure.

On the bright side tho, he's started feeding -at times - for longer! Previously, it's only been 5mins, but we're getting up to 10 now! Can't be too bad for him - yesterday (3wks 4d) he was 4.82kg and I have 1kg to be back at my pre-Jensen weight - tho you can't tell by looking at my mummytummy!
Jensen also has v. strong legs and neck - he's had since birth - and hold his head up best he can when he can. Doesn't much care for tummy time, but we'll work on that. He's started coo-ing and even smiling - tho the smiles could just be co-incidences.

(omg this is long!) Just before I hit submit, on the subject on AF. I don't have mine back yet, and not looking forward to her appearance, but I hear the first one back is worse than the norm. My loss seemed to end at about a week and a half, with just now what seems to be blood from my stitches. I was told they take the full 6wks to heal. Great.

Sorry, I seemed to have harped on about my problems... I wont be so long between posts now, and will have less negative things to say!

Rhinanon - Great to hear from you hun. Good to see that Jensen has put himself into a routine this early. Don't be shocked if it changes though!

What your describing abour Jensen's crying habits sounds like evening colic. Briley used to have the same thing. She would start at about the same time and scream unconsolably till about 9pm. You might like to try some sort of relief for him. I just used Gripe Water added to Briley's bottles and that seemed to help. Their is also other things like Infants Friend which Kirst has said is good.

I hope something helps for him soon.

Well i better go and try and get my little girl ready for bed. She is calling out for mummy for some dinner now.

Ni night girls.

Hi ladies,

Sara I think we're working on a spurt too, either that or he was just really unsettled today. Xavier wanted to eat hourly, yes hourly!! although it was quite warm here today also, so that may have had something to do with it. Although even when he has crazy days at night when he goes down anytime from 6pm onwards he goes for the manditory 5 hours and then we are back to max 3 hours and once 7 am has arrived we get down to 2 hours. I think he worked out his days and nights, I just wish he knew nights went for at least 8 hours.
RE the midwifery, I think you sound like you have given it a lot of thought. Just go with your gut. You may be able to defer for another year, you might get special consideration being a country girl, 'cause your pretty much a gurantee to stick around in a rural area iykwim. But you could do the dola bit and return to mw in a few years???

Krist it sounds like you guys are becoming quite a well oiled machine. I hope everything continues to go so well for you.

Rhiannon, Jensen sounds like he is doing similar things to what xavier was doing a few weeks ago. I think if you hang in there his sleeps will graduly increase in length. We too had a really screamy baby the other night, I could do nothing for him, he actually tried to keep eating, but chucked (little piggy wasn't even hungry) the only thing I had left was that he was tired, so I had to just put him to bed with a dummy, and a few sooks later he was asleep. We got 7 hours that night, poor little thing was really tired.

RE the infants friend and gripe water etc. do you just go and ask at a chemist for them?? I wouldn't mind having some on hand as there are some times of the day Xavier just doesn't want to burp.
Thanks

I understand the wind issue, I burp Emma 1/2 way between each bb and when i swap bbs and after the feed. she burps @ least 4 times per feed. if i don't do this i also get an arsenic hour or four. Infant's friend is good for almost anything. I hve used it on sarah 4 constipation. U may also find th@ burping regularly during the feed means less vomits as putting more milk on top of the wind just forces the milk up with it iykwim.

Emma is over bw and we are trimming a bit off the nipple shields every day, soon they will b nonexistant. Sarah is also getting more upset @ me 4 feeding emma n not cuddling her. do u have the same problem sara? I'm just glad i'm not my Nanna. she had 5 under 2 @ 1 point. (2 sets of twins 11 mnths apart n the oldest single 16 mnths older than 1st set!)

Must go 2 bed now, hope I get sum sleep n wen Emma wants food she doesnt muck around 4 45 minutes! Night all!

Hey Sara, I'm heading back to Uni next year too to do my nursing degree. Maybe we can support each other through it? I figure if I go part-time for 6 years, I'll be able to then work when the kids are at school. It's a nice thought to be able to be ME for a spell rather than MUM all the time.

Re Infant's Friend vs Gripe Water - they both contain similar ingredients, but just be aware that GW ontains alcohol and IF doesn't. My SIL is a pharmasist and she has used IF for all 3 of her kids as a cure-all for wind/reflux/colic type of stuff, and swears by it. More info at Infants' Friend Oral Liquid - Colic Mixture including online ordering details if your chemist doesn't stock it.

Sara, I am so jealous that Colby slept for so long.......but I have to keep reminding myself that she's almost 3 weeks older than Bailey, and considering that's basically her whole life right now, I can't expect too much.

I am sitting here with Bailey asleep on my chest typing with one hand, waiting for the MCHN to arrive. I hope she's not late......I've got places to be!

Hello hello Hello,

Well the other day I decided I was just going to be tired all the time and let this boy put himself into a routine, and last night he gave me a great present.

He slept from 8.15pm till 4.20 am (8 hours) then went back to sleep by 5am till 8.30am. I got at least 8 hors of sleep myself. I'm so happy!!

Morning Girls,

Was about do personals but lil miss has woken up for a feed.

Be back soon.

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HI all,
and I agree with krist, nothing wrong with spoiling in the first 3 months. there is a july mummy that just had her 5th child and she has co0slept with all of them until 12 weeks, and they don't have any bad sleeping habits

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i try to sleep with ella in bed....coz sometimes those early morning feeds can be SUCH a drag but nup, the cheeky monkey wont have any of it! lol anyone tried feeding while lying down...?

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Hi all,

Well I think this little man has started to put himself into a routine. I've noticed him favoring certain times of the day for feeding, and last night he slept for 7 hours, that's a first, and we are getting more smiles now too.

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becca, when ur bub sleeps that long.....who do ur boobs feel? yesterday i went out with my mum n left bub at home with DH. he had fed her abt 60ml when i walked in the door. so i continued to feed her but she didnt drain my left boob much. n since then, my left boob has been engorging so frequently that it hurts!! i try not to pump coz the more i pump the more will be produced....dunno wat to do now. :(

If your boob is engorged, you need to drain it completely, and then contintue on as usual with your feeds. It will come good again.

hhmm.....i've just finished my feed with ella. i personally dont think it's totally drained so i should pump it all out? i'm just afraid that if i drain it all, my body might think that ella wants more n hence, the extra milk which means MORE engorging....? or am i just paranoid??? :P

From personal experiene with both girls, expressing till u r empty will jst make more, expressing till u r comfortable will not. all my mw's agreed with this. I will go check in the platinum section with Barb tho. brb

Kirst - Thats cool that you are going back to uni too! I hear you on the ME time! That's mainly why i want to go back. And for something to fall back on when the girls are in school.

We will have to support each other if i decided to go ahead with it. It will be good to have someone in the same boat as i. Are you planning on doing midwifery or just nursing??? Your right re: age and sleeping. I'm sure Bailey will do the same when you reach 5-6 weeks. Fingers crossed anyways!

Bec - You can buy the gripe water for the supermarket. The Infants Friend i am not sure about. Probably have to pick that one up at the chemist. Looks as though your little man has def put himself in a routine. After lastnight i think we are almost there too!

Alison - We are'nt having any issues here with Briley being jelous or sooky when i hold Colby. She is a month or so younger than Sarah though. That might make a difference. I have noticed though that when she gets into trouble she takes it out on Colby. Not all the time but. She does things like pulls the blanket off her or smacks her head or something like that. Lastnight she tried to pull Colby clean out of the rocker! :redface: Briley is still a little young to understand how fragile Colby is i think.

Misty - I find that when Colby feeds more often the next couple of days i tend to make heaps more milk. So i think that if you completely empty your boobs your body will think that bubs needs more and you will end up making more milk. Have you spoken to a lactaction consultant about this?? You have been having over-production all along have'nt you?? I would speak to a LC if it gets too stressful and painful. Like Alison said, i would be just expressing enough to make yourself comfortable. Good luck! Oh and we are sleeping up 7 hours a night and i don't have any problems with my milk either. I think your just a milk machine!!! :p

Well we had another lovely nights sleep here. Colby slept from 9pm till 4.15am again. That must be our routine i think. Then Briley woke up at 5.00am and decided she wanted to stay awake!! So i put her in our bed as i usually do but she kept crying here and there. When she did Colby would stir straight away!! I kept just shoving the dummy back in Briley's mouth trying to keep her quiet so she would'nt wake Colby! Lovely are'nt i!

Not much planned for the day. Might go into town later when Brent gets home. Its easier to drag him along. Not that he likes it one bit!!!

Hope you are all well...